


Secrets

by writtensword



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fake Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-08-24 16:10:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8378818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtensword/pseuds/writtensword
Summary: AU in which Kara does not work for Cat. Adam is gay and terrified of coming out and he needs a fake girlfriend for his family weekend with his mother and grandmother. Drama ensues. (Rated M for later chapters.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Prologue  
  
**

****“This is a terrible idea,” Kara hears her sister say around a mouthful of food, the half-eaten pizza slice in her hand dancing in the air as she gestures wildly. “It’s a terrible, moronic and insanely stupid plan...”  
  
"Alex,” Kara interrupts, her fingers finding her sister’s shoulder in an attempt to stop her rant. “It’s really not that bad.”  
  
She glances across the coffee table toward the other couch where Winn and Adam sit side by side, their hands linked. Winn’s shoulders have slumped at Alex’s outburst and Adam has been tense from the moment the two of them have set foot into Kara’s apartment.  
  
“Besides,” Kara continues while reaching for a pizza slice of her own from the box on the coffee table between the four of them, “you need to understand that not everyone has parents like ours.”  
  
Alex seems to deflate at that, studying the clearly worried couple across from them. Kara takes that moment to gobble up her pizza slice before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and taking a swig from her ice tea to wash it down.  
  
“Sometimes it’s just better to keep a secret,” she goes on, raising a pointed eyebrow at her sister, “if it ensures someone’s safety, right?”  
  
“Hmmm,” Alex nods somewhat reluctantly and Kara sees a tiny smile appear on Winn’s lips.  
  
“So, you’ll do it?” He asks her, and it causes his boyfriend to look up with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.  
**  
** Kara nods. “I’m thinking about it.”  
**  
** “Kara,” Alex interjects, “this could be disastrous.” She turns her face so only Kara can see her quietly hinting at Kara’s secret heritage. “His mom isn’t exactly known to be…   _discrete_.”  
**  
** “Hey!” Adam speaks up for the first time since he arrived that evening. “She really isn’t that bad when you get to know her.”  
**  
** “Which is why you’re afraid to come out to her?” Alex arches her eyebrows.  
  
Adam drops his head and stares at the hand linked with his boyfriend’s while Winn chews on the inside of his cheek as if to stop himself from commenting.

“Look,” Alex says, her voice a bit more gentle. “I can empathise with your situation. I’m just worried about my sister.”  
**  
** “But I want to help,” Kara mumbles around another slice of pizza.  
**  
** “Which is the problem, Kara. You always want to help, without a single thought for _your own safety._ ” The scolding lacks its bite, because Kara knows that Alex does appreciate her kindness and determination to make a difference in the world.  
**  
** “Why shouldn’t I be safe?” Kara asks quietly. “It’s just a family weekend in the woods.”  
**  
** “With the potential for high drama.” Alex points out.  
**  
** “There’ll be free food,” Kara replies while licking pizza sauce off her fingers, “and with you and Eliza all the way in Geneva someone will have to feed me.”  
  
There is a sliver of guilt crossing Alex’s features until she quickly squints it away and pokes a finger into Kara’s side.

“Sure, it’s the _food_ that makes you want to recklessly throw yourself at this chance and not your everlasting childhood cru....”   
**  
** “Alex!” Kara hisses with a quick glance at Adam and Winn.  
**  
** “Fine!” Alex throws up her hands. “Fine. If you want to help out, then do.” Her palm finds Kara’s shoulder and there is affection in her voice when she continues, “just be careful, okay? I won’t be around to get you out of trouble this time.”   
**  
** Kara knows that Alex is only watching out for her. _And by Rao_ , pretending to be someone’s girlfriend for Thanksgiving will certainly be the riskiest thing Kara has ever done in her time on Earth.  
**  
** There is a tiny voice in the back of her mind, however, that keeps whispering one name over and over again. A name that has fallen from her lips so often, so enthusiastically and so liberally when she discovered day-time TV in her first year on this planet that her foster parents had to put a ban on it at the dinner table. A name that, when she heard it again in Winn’s plea for help earlier this very evening, triggered that same flutter in the pit of her belly as when she was fourteen and ran home from school to make it to the TV in time.  
**  
** _Cat Grant._  
  
Something tells her that finally meeting the woman who captured her heart a decade ago is well worth the risk.  
**  
** “Alright,” Kara smiles at Adam, her heart leaping in her chest. “I’ll do it.”

* * *

 

**Chapter One**

 

“How much further, Navigator?” Cat asks, as they pass through a small town that seems to consist of only a dozen houses and a closed-down convenience store.

She moves her eyes away from the road to find Carter gently snoring beside her, and her lips curl into a tender smile at the image. With the neatly folded roadmap held loosely in one hand and a bag of rice crackers in the other, head turned to the side where it rests against the back of the car seat and the pulled-up hood of his grey cotton jacket framing his brown curls, her sleeping son looks angelic.

Cat slows the car and pulls over so she can safely reach across and close Carter’s jacket as best as she can without waking him before she carefully extracts the map from his grasp. She squints at it for a moment, but the low afternoon light is bad enough to quickly make her reach for her reading glasses.

Using her index finger, she traces the line Carter has drawn on the map until the end. It seems they only have another half hour of driving ahead of them. The scribbled little X and Carter’s writing of “Grandpa’s Cabin” next to it cause a lump to form in Cat’s throat, and she gingerly refolds the map and slides it together with her glasses across the top of the dashboard. She takes a deep breath and her fingers tightly grip the steering wheel until she can slowly exhale and will some of the tension to leave her shoulders.

The long weekend ahead is daunting, and there is not much that intimidates Cat Grant. The prospect of seeing her mother and exposing herself and Carter to her endless insults without having an easy escape route is a challenge on its own, but spending four days and four nights with the son she lost over twenty years ago and trying her utmost best to not be a disappointment to him and lose him all over again is what terrifies Cat to her bone.

She tries to find solace in the fact that so far things with Adam seem to be going well, even if their first meeting was a bit of a disaster. She remembers how due to being exceptionally nervous about the whole thing she spent the entire dinner rambling on and on about her accomplishments, attempting to impress her son and get him to like her, but inadvertently only alienating him further. She still cannot quite believe Adam came to see her the next day and gave her a second chance.

Steeling herself with another deep breath Cat restarts the car and pulls back onto the road.

Somewhere behind the wall of clouds the sun is setting and Cat shivers in her thin blouse, realising she should have changed into something warmer before leaving the office. The last time she was in Oregon was two years ago when she and Carter were on a road trip to Portland, but that was in August and the heavy mist emerging from the woods surrounding them now carries the beginnings of winter.

Cat sighs and switches on the headlights, keeping half an eye out for road signs as her nervous mind continues to wander.

It is the first thanksgiving in twenty-five years where she will not be working, and even though she tells herself that this weekend is important she feels the subtle itch of valuable work time slipping through her fingers.

Carter stirs beside her and she turns to watch him snuggle deeper into his hoodie, the bag of rice crackers slipping from his grip and spilling crumbs all over his lap, and Cat knows she made the right decision. What is one missed day of work compared to a chance for her sons to bond away from the distractions of the big city?

She is slightly worried about the fact that Adam is bringing a girlfriend, a fact he only mentioned a few days ago, taking Cat completely by surprise. But in her quest to make up for lost time and be the perfect mother Cat decides she will try her very best to give the girl a chance. Who knows, a new, unsuspecting person thrown into the mix might even sufficiently distract her mother from continuously criticising Cat for every life choice she has ever made.

Cat snorts at the thought and shakes her head at the morbid excitement she briefly feels at perhaps not being the only victim of verbal evisceration this weekend, and it causes her to almost miss their turn. She hits the brake with her stocking-clad foot and although she was not speeding, the slight jolt still wakes Carter and makes him sit up and blink in sleepy confusion.

“Mom?” He croaks.

“Almost there, sweetheart.”

He nods and looks out of the window, pressing his face close to the glass to better see the shapes and shadows in the growing darkness.

“What’s grandpa’s cabin like?” He asks, his breath leaving a patch of condensation on the window.

“I don’t remember,” Cat replies honestly. She has only been here once when she was eight, and the memory is hazy.

In life Richard Grant coveted his lakeside getaway like nothing else, a place where he could spend undisturbed weekends away from his nagging wife and estranged daughter. He was always adamant about keeping Katherine away from it and Cat wonders why on earth of all his properties this was the one he left to his wife after his death.

Carter leans back into his seat to look at her and Cat reaches out to brush an unruly lock of hair from his forehead.

“Why does grandma want us to celebrate thanksgiving _here_?” He asks, his eyebrows knitting together.

“I don’t know, Carter. Maybe she wants you and Adam to see where your grandpa spent most of his time?” Cat is not sure she believes that herself. “Or maybe since three of us live on the west coast she doesn’t feel like paying for our flights to Metropolis?”

Carter smirks at that, and Cat worries she is steering him too much into disliking the only grandparent he still has left.

“Nah, we would just take the CatCo jet,” he says with the proud little smile that never fails to warm Cat’s heart.

“True,” Cat says with a smile of her own, and the fact that her son is proud of her where her own mother has shown nothing but contempt smooths over some of her anxiety.

“Well, I suppose we'll find out what this is all about,” she murmurs as they turn onto a gravel driveway that crunches loudly beneath the tires and causes Carter’s eyes to close in delight. “We’re here.”

Cat parks as far away from the house as she can and turns off the ignition. She engages the handbrake and sighs into the ensuing silence, the rhythmic ticking of the cooling engine sounds like a countdown for disaster. Fingers tapping against the steering wheel, Cat does not feel ready to face her mother just yet.

“Can we go see the lake before we go inside?” Carter saves her.

“Of course.”

After fumbling to find and slip on her discarded heels and then grabbing her coat, Cat exits the car and follows Carter down the small path toward the shore.

They pass a boathouse with a motion sensor lantern that startles Carter when he triggers it, and Cat wraps a hand around his shoulder and pulls him closer as they carefully climb down the final steps to the water.

“This isn’t too bad, is it?” She asks, hugging her son’s back to her chest as they stand and look out over the last sliver of daylight reflected in the lake’s surface.

Carter shrugs, “yeah, I guess,” but Cat knows if nothing else he will enjoy the quietness of this place.

For a while they simply listen to the water lapping against the shore, until Carter reaches back and pulls Cat’s face against his cheek, his fingers distractedly curling around her ear the way they have done since he was a baby.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?” She hums against his temple, inhaling the clean scent of his shampoo.

“Whatever happens, just know... that I love you, okay?”

“Oh sweetheart,” she squeezes him tightly, “I love you, too.”

For all his difficulties navigating social cues and facial expressions Carter is incredibly observant and he can read Cat better than anyone else.

“We’ll be alright,” Cat reassures them both with another tight hug around his middle.

Carter nods and drops his hand from her face, a sign that he has had enough hugging for now, and Cat drags her fingers through his hair one last time and steps away to give him space.

“Do you think there’s a boat in there?” He asks then, pushing his fists deep into the pockets of his jeans and staring at the boathouse behind them.

Cat turns to look, buttoning up her coat against the cold breeze. “We can have a look tomorrow morning, if you like.”

“Hmm,” Carter nods.

A sudden beam of light sweeps over them and the sound of another car rolling onto the property has Cat’s belly twist with a renewed flash of anxiety.

“That must be your brother,” she murmurs, shoulders tense despite the excitement of seeing Adam again. “Let’s go say hello.”

Carter trails behind her as they walk past the boathouse, triggering the lantern once more and no doubt drawing attention to them as the car comes to a stop next to Cat’s Prius. Adam emerges with a smile on his face and Cat has to fight the urge to run to him.

“Hi,” he says with a dorky little wave before his hands disappear in his back pockets. It is so good to see him again. 

He moved to National City two months ago and although Cat has not seen nearly enough of him she has been hesitant to push for more.

“Hi Adam,” she says with a small smile of her own, fingers fidgeting during that awkward moment of indecision where they both clearly wish to hug, but neither one moves. Before Cat can will herself to step forward the passenger side door opens.

The light from the boathouse is bright enough for Cat to notice that Adam’s girlfriend is tall and pretty, despite the nerdy braid bun and hideous baby pink jean jacket she is wearing. Her smile is too wide and a nervous hand is pushing at glasses that are ten years out of fashion, but her eyes are warm and she looks like she is the perfect match for her son. Cat already hates her.

“Hi, I’m Kara,” the young woman says in a bubbly voice that instantly grates on Cat’s nerves.

To suppress the sneer that threatens to break across her lips Cat merely acknowledges her with a quick nod and then turns her attention back to Adam.

“Did you have a good drive?”

“Yeah, no problems,” Adam looks behind her and tilts up his chin to greet his brother. “Hi Carter.”

“Hi.” Carter’s voice is quiet and Cat hopes that the presence of Adam’s girlfriend will not get in the way of her sons bonding. She can hear Carter’s feet shuffling on the gravel behind her and Adam is rocking on his toes, eyes darting around. Kara just offers Cat another painfully wide smile, hands fumbling with the sleeves of her jacket.

“Shall we go inside?” Cat asks when it is clear that no one else will say or do anything to break the silence.

Carter slips past her with a mumbled, “I’ll get the bags,” and Kara ducks away to do the same, which leaves Cat and Adam sharing a nervous smile.

“So,” Adam begins as they make their way over to the house. “This doesn’t really count as a cabin, does it?”

Cat’s eyes sweep over the two-story stone building with its dark beams and ivy-covered walls and she laughs. “No. Your grandfather wasn’t exactly known for doing anything small.”

They walk up to the roofed area in front of the main door and Cat turns to check on Carter, who is struggling to close the trunk of their car with his pillow stuffed under one arm and his backpack, Cat’s purse and her suitcase in his other hand. Before Cat can ask whether he needs assistance Kara appears by his side and takes the luggage from him, allowing him to fully reach up and shut the trunk.

He locks the car and when he is ready to retake his backpack Kara just smiles and shakes her head, ushering him forward. Cat rolls her eyes when Kara lifts the additional items with clearly faked ease and follows Carter toward the house. If the girl wants to give herself a hernia trying to impress her boyfriend’s mother Cat is not going to stop her.

“Kitty!”

Cat suppresses a shudder at the hated nickname when her mother opens the door in a dramatic whirl that sweeps leaves from the outside into the hallway.

“Mother.”

When Cat leans forward in greeting Katherine steps away. “Oh, please, darling. We’ve seen each other a month ago. No reason to get sentimental.”

Cat swallows against the sting of the rejection that still manages to unsettle her despite years of intensive therapy, and her hand instinctively finds Carter’s shoulder.

“You remember Carter?”

Katherine purses her lips as she stares at him. “What do you feed the boy, Kitty? They’re supposed to grow at some point.”

Instead of beginning their weekend with an argument Cat shoves Carter past his grandmother and into the house without further comment, giving the woman a chance to temporarily focus her vitriol on her other grandson.

“Adam,” Katherine drawls, and Cat is so shocked by her tone that she whips around in time to watch her mother pull Adam into a hug.

He sends Cat a worried glance over his grandmother’s shoulder, but all Cat can do is shrug, mind racing to figure out what Katherine is up to.

“Look at you,” Katherine says once she lets go of Adam, patting the lapels of his jacket, “what a handsome, young doctor.”

 _Oh,_ Cat thinks then, suddenly aware that her mother does not appear to know that he dropped out of Cornell. Adam looks as though he is about to correct his grandmother, but Cat quickly shakes her head to silence him.

“And who are you?” Katherine finally moves her attention to Kara who stands in the door like the dorky equipment manager of a Midwestern softball team.

“I… uhm, I’m…”

Cat feels almost sorry for her. Almost.

“This is Kara,” Adam jumps in, awkwardly patting her arm, but making no move to help her with the bags.

“Kara Danvers,” Kara finally says, holding out a hand which Katherine pointedly ignores.

“You are all late. Dinner is already served,” Katherine says with a dismissive wave of her hands before she turns and walks away, the clacking of her heels on the hardwood floors echoing loudly in the open living space of the house.

Carter exhales a shaky breath, clutching his pillow to his chest and Cat begins to regret her decision to bring him here.

“Wow, what a sour prune,” Kara murmurs loud enough for the other three to hear as she manoeuvres the bags und suitcase around so she can close the door, and Adam looks up at Cat, terrified.

Cat is unsure how to react, so taken aback by the unexpected outburst that she does not know whether to scowl or laugh, but Carter makes the decision for her by suddenly bending over in a fit of giggles.

“Prune,” he repeats in a whisper when he turns around to grin at Kara.

“Carter,” Cat hisses, worried that her mother might overhear, but when her eyes find a furiously blushing Kara she feels a spark of sympathy, one that she instantly hurries to extinguish.

“Oh, gosh. I’m so sorry,” Kara apologises in a hushed voice, hand flying to cover her mouth, and Cat rolls her eyes and begins to steer a still giggling Carter towards the stairs, leaving Adam to deal with his fumbling girlfriend.

There are three bedrooms upstairs, and Cat notices that her mother has already claimed the master suite. The room next to it has two single beds and Cat lets Carter choose the one by the window where he promptly deposits his pillow and kneels on the duvet to look outside.

Cat unbuttons her jacket and runs her fingers through her hair, lightly scratching her scalp before rubbing her tired face with a deep sigh. She is going to need alcohol. And soon.

“Uhm,” comes from the door, and Cat turns to find Kara staring at her, cheeks still red and eyes wide. “W-where do you want these?” She holds up the suitcase, purse and backpack as if they weigh nothing and Cat fights the urge to roll her eyes again.

“Put them here,” she indicates the armchair next to her bed.

Kara hesitates for a second and Cat is ready to snap at her to get moving. When she finally does step into the room she brushes past Cat smelling like cinnamon and cheap hand lotion and Cat instinctively crosses her arms over her chest. A cleverly-worded jab at Kara playing bellboy lies on the tip of her tongue when Carter abandons his spot at the window and slides off the bed.

“Thank you, Kara,” he says with a shy smile, and Cat blinks in surprise that her sweet boy, who usually takes ages to warm up to strangers, is already making eye contact with Kara.

“Glad to help,” Kara replies with a ridiculous little salute that makes Carter snort and Cat hate her even more.

“Oh, hey, by the way,” Kara points at Carter’s bed. “I wanted to tell you earlier that I really like your pillow. You’re a fan of Superman?”

Carter’s eyes widen and he reaches down to fondly stroke over the faded red and yellow ‘S’.

“Yeah,” he beams at her. “Superman’s the best!”

“I know, right?!” Kara replies excitedly.

“Oh,” she spins around then, looking at Cat with the hint of a blush returning to her cheeks as she readjusts the straps of the remaining two bags on her shoulders. “Uhm. We’ll go get settled and then we’ll see you at dinner?”

Cat is so baffled by the ease with which her son is interacting with this woman he only just met that all she can do is nod in acknowledgement.

As soon as Kara is gone and they hear the door to the third bedroom close across the hall, Carter sits down and bounces on his mattress, exclaiming, “I like her!”

 _Oh, dear god._ Leave it to a nerd princess to come and sweep both her sons off their feet on the one weekend that was meant for Grant family bonding.

Cat slips out of her coat and takes off her shoes with a low buzzing heaviness in the pit of her belly. She is still coming to terms with the fact that Adam even has a girlfriend. Sure, there have been signs that he was dating someone. After all, he moved to National City immediately after dropping out of med school and Cat is under no delusion that she was the only reason for her son to move across the country. And yet Cat had somehow thought that Adam… _well_.

She shakes her head and looks over at Carter who has buried his face into his Superman pillow, taking a deep, calming breath of the scent of home.

“Sweetheart,” Cat says as she tabs against the side of his sneaker to get his attention. “Shall we freshen up and then go see what kind of disaster grandma has ordered for dinner?”

“Hmmm,” comes his muffled reply.

When they descend the stairs ten minutes later, Cat finds her mother seated on a big leather arm chair by the fireplace with a drink in her hand.

“I realise that we’re out in the wilderness, Kitty, but that is no reason to dress like a lumberjack,” she says, hand flailing vaguely in Cat’s direction, eyebrows pulling together in a frown full of disdain, and Cat is reminded of Kara’s earlier comment.

 _Sour prune._ She almost snorts.

“I’m having dinner with my sons, mother,” Cat takes a seat on the sofa across from Katherine and Carter silently curls up beside her. “Not giving a speech before the senate.” She smooths down her grey slacks and pale green turtleneck sweater while fighting the urge to further justify her appearance.

Instead of responding with another insult Katherine takes a sip from her drink and stands, heels clacking across the floor as she makes her way over to the fully set dining table.

“The caterer comes recommended by Margaret,” she explains casually, as if it is no big deal that all their meals are being prepared for them by an outside company. “They even agreed to take care of the,” another vague whirl of her fingers, “ _special needs eaters_ among us.”

Cat feels Carter tense beside her and she snakes an arm around his back for a brief, reassuring hug. As much as she hates her mother for speaking about him as if he is not there, she is positively surprised that the extensive list of his dietary requirements has apparently been taken into consideration.

“Now, where is that doctor son of yours? I’m starving.”

Cat rolls her eyes, but before she can say anything Adam hurries down the stairs, followed by a bouncy Kara whose stammered apology Cat can already feel scraping across her skin before she has even opened her mouth.

“S-sorry, we lost track of time.”

It is Adam’s turn to blush and something dark twists in the pit of Cat’s stomach.

They settle around the table with Cat on one end and her mother on the other. Carter sticks to her side, but Adam is pulled by the sleeve of his sweater to sit next to his grandmother, which gives Kara the choice between Cat and her mother. When Kara slides into the seat between Cat and Adam, Cat immediately reaches for the bottle of red wine, and although she knows Carter is giving her a look she pours a generous amount of it into her glass.

“Tell me, Adam,” Katherine begins, her voice smooth and false and her rings clicking together as she rubs her fingers above her plate. “Have you chosen a residency yet? You know, I’m sure I could get you into your grandfather’s old clinic.”

“Oh, uhm,” Adam gives Cat a terrified look. “Well, I’m still weighing all my options. But thank you, grandma.”

There is a moment of silence in which Cat helps Carter pile some salad and oven-baked sweet potato fries onto his plate. Katherine eyes them, gaze filled with scepticism, but she refrains from commenting and turns her attention to Kara instead.

“How did the two of you meet? Are you in med school as well?” The suggestive lilt at the end of the sentence makes it clear that Katherine Grant does not expect any less of the girl who dares to date her grandson.

Kara freezes in place, the garlic bread she was just reaching for hovering in mid-air as she blinks with wide eyes.

“Uhm… well. Not exactly.” She puts down the bread and reaches for her napkin, twisting it between her fingers as she appears to wither under Katherine’s scrutiny. “My foster mother and sister are both doctors. I just… teach.”

“At Cornell?”

“Oh… uhm, no. At… Prince Elementary.”

Cat sets down the serving plate of sweet potato fries and stares at Kara. Prince Academy is not only National City’s most prestigious campus, being established and largely funded by Diana Prince herself, it is also one of the few schools in California that coaches and supports children with autism or other learning disabilities, putting the emphasis on integration rather than exclusion. Its prep school was on top of Cat’s list for Carter when they had to pick one last year, and the only reason Carter ended up going somewhere a little closer to home with most of his elementary school classmates was his fear of change.

There are suddenly a lot of questions Cat wants to ask, but she is weary of her mother’s opinion of Carter and her incessant need to elevate herself by putting others down.

“You’re an elementary school teacher?” Katherine’s voice has risen an entire pitch and Kara visibly shrinks in her chair.

Adam remains quiet and keeps his head low, scooping way too much coleslaw onto his plate as Kara, who seems at a complete loss for words, opens and closes her mouth like a fish.

The superior little smirk on her mother’s face tugs at something deep within Cat and before she can stop herself she gets involved.

“Teaching is a worthwhile profession, mother.”

Kara’s head shoots up at the word ‘worthwhile’ and Cat has to restrain herself from looking at her, because there is a sudden force to Kara’s gaze that Cat can feel without turning her head.

“And you’ve heard of Diana Prince, no?” Cat continues, aware that her mother usually responds well to name-dropping. “The school is hers, and it offers one of the very best curricula in the country.”

“That might be so,” Katherine looks at Cat over the tip of her raised nose, nostrils flaring as she breathes, “but I doubt that the teacher of a bunch of first graders gets to interact with someone like Ms Prince.”

“Uhm…,” Kara mumbles around a mouthful of garlic bread that she quickly swallows once she notices everyone’s attention is back on her. ”Uhm, Diana is actually a family friend.”

The way Adam finally raises his eyes from his coleslaw mountain and stares at Kara gives away that even for him this is brand new information. Cat wonders how long the two of them have been together when Kara has not yet shared these kinds of facts with her boyfriend.

Kara blushes again and she fidgets with the cloth napkin until Cat thinks she can hear the fabric rip.

“Ah, well,” Katherine says with a smile that is as fake as her hair colour. “That explains how you got a position at such an elite school.”

Cat sighs and is about to intervene once more when Carter puts down his fork with a loud clang and asks, “Mom, can I have more fries?”

She understands what he is doing, knows how much he hates loud discussions and raised voices, and so she lets the bad table manners and lewd grammar slide and gives him another serving of sweet potato fries. “Of course, sweetheart.”

“So, Adam,” she then attempts to bring the focus back to the one person at the table her mother does not seem to outright hate. “How _did_ you two meet?”

She is genuinely curious, because as much as this young woman tries to appear ordinary, hiding behind polyester blend sweaters and nerdy glasses, Cat is starting to suspect that Kara is someone exceptional.

“Oh, we met through a mutual friend,” Adam begins, and finally there is a spark in his eyes. “Winn and Kara have been best friends for years and he introduced us a few months ago.”

Cat listens to him as they eat their dinner, listens to the perfect story of romance, sees the love radiate off her son. And for the second time that evening she realises how perfect Kara appears to be for him, how well they seem to fit. Kara shares many of Adam’s nerdy interests and she is patient and kind. Now that Cat knows Kara’s profession she cannot picture the young woman doing anything else and the way Carter so quickly warmed up to her already proves how good she is with children who are a little different.

As Adam continues to share more perfect anecdotes, Cat finds her gaze repeatedly drifting to Kara who smiles and nods at the stories. She seems so genuine and pure that Cat can completely understand how her son has so easily fallen in love with her. Of course, no girl will ever be good enough for her sons, but Kara with her sunny smiles and golden hair--and as much as Cat tries to dislike her--might actually come close.

When they are finished with dinner Carter excuses himself and drudges upstairs with his Nintendo and Kara clears the table and disappears into the kitchen to do the dishes. Cat is torn between telling her son to go help his girlfriend and getting up and doing it herself, when Adam suddenly pins her with an expectant look.

“And? What do you think?”

She understands what he is asking, but she decides to play dumb so that she has time to put her thoughts on Kara in order.

“Think about what?”

“Kara, of course.”

“She seems,” Cat stares at her empty wine glass and watches her right index finger brush along the delicate stem. ”She seems… _nice_.”

“Well, at least she isn’t a man,” Katherine says with a sneer before taking a large sip from her drink, and suddenly Cat feels like she is fourteen again, heart hammering wildly in her chest, hands growing clammy while her mother gives her a knowing, calculated look.

“I-I’ll… uhm,” Adam stutters, his face ashen. “I’ll go and help Kara in the kitchen.”

He practically bolts off and Cat feels like smashing her head against the table. Katherine’s face is stony and accusing, and now that they are alone and Cat no longer has someone else to protect, years of therapy drain from her blood and she feels exposed and weak and scared.

“I’m sure once he is a surgeon he will find himself a more suitable girl, too,” Katherine says as she rises dramatically from her chair and makes her way towards the stairs.

“Now. I’m going to retire to my room and read a book, one with only text and no pictures--you may have heard of those, Kitty—before I turn in. Try and keep your children from making too much noise during the night. Bonne nuit.”

And with that she stalks up the stairs and Cat feels herself deflate into a useless heap, her forehead meeting the table with a soft thud.

Her mother is being particularly horrible and Cat longs for her dark office, longs for a quiet night full of work to keep herself busy while the muted sounds of National City steadily hum outside her balcony. She tries to tell herself she made the right choice by bringing her sons here, but right now she has a hard time believing in a positive outcome. She takes a deep breath and lifts her head off the table.  
  
Carter is upstairs playing his game, and although Cat feels guilty she gets up and walks over to the dry bar in search of something a little stronger than wine.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara sneaks out of the kitchen backdoor, taking a deep breath of the cool evening air as she wipes her still wet hands on her jeans. She lingers on the deck for a moment, ears tuning into the light drizzle of rain on pine needles and shingled roofs. She focuses on the sound of the lake gently brushing against the shore and then allows herself to slowly exhale, cheeks puffed and shoulders finally relaxing.

Her pulse is still racing, her whole body buzzing with contradictory thoughts and emotions. The excitement of finally meeting Cat and the exhilaration of hearing her refer to Kara’s profession as worthwhile is now overshadowed by the cruel and blatant homophobia of Cat’s mother. And although Adam’s fear of coming out to his family is the very reason Kara came here, she is still shocked.

She eavesdropped on the conversation as soon as she left with the dirty dishes. Cat hesitating and then calling her “nice” did put a smile on her face at first, but then Katherine ruined it all with her nasty comment. Kara heard the way Adam’s heartbeat accelerated, his breath stuck in his throat, and she felt so angry on his behalf.

She waited for Cat to say something, _anything_ , to shut down her mother the way she had about Kara being a teacher, but nothing came. It was then that Kara noticed that Cat’s heart was beating even faster than Adam’s, that she showed even greater signs of distress than her son, and now, in hindsight, Kara wonders if perhaps Cat knows about Adam, or at least suspects that he is not straight, and decided to stay quiet to keep him safe.

Kara rubs a hand across her face and sighs, aware that her never-quite-vanished teen crush on Cat might cloud her judgement. The truth is she knows nothing about Cat’s views on homosexuality. It was never one of the topics in Cat’s old TV show and if Adam is so terrified of his mother’s reaction, it has got to be based on something.

“Uh,” she groans and steps out into the rain, pulling her phone from her back pocket.

Alex picks up after the second ring.

“Hey,” she greets her sister while walking towards the lamp of the boathouse where a little roof protrudes just far enough to cover her and protect her phone from getting wet.

“Hey yourself.”

“Did you arrive safely?” Kara asks, knowing that had anything bad happened she would have already heard.

“Yeah. All good. We had a bit of a delay in Washington, but nothing bad. I slept through most of the flight.” Kara smirks at that, glad that Alex got the chance to rest. “And mom finally finished her speech.”

“Oh, that’s tomorrow, right?”

“No, Kara, _today_. It’s already morning over here,” Alex laughs. “Honestly, for someone who can fly around the world in less than a minute you really need to work on your time zones.”

Kara pouts. “Hey, time zones are confusing!” She leans her back against the wall of the boathouse and huffs a little as she continues. “They go by national borders instead of longitudes and there are half-hour time zones and neighbouring countries with more than an hour difference. And don’t get me started on all the islands in the pacific. It’s illogical and it makes my head hurt.”

Alex snorts. “Well, okay. I see your point.”

They are both quiet for a moment and Kara looks out over the lake, nostrils flaring as she pulls in more of the clean, pleasant forest air.

“So…” Alex begins then, and Kara mentally braces herself for the question she knows will come. “What’s Cat like?”

Hands flying to her lips Kara tries to keep a neutral face so that her voice will not give her away.

“Cat is… she’s nice.”

“Kara, I can hear you smiling from over here.”

A giggle breaks through then, and Kara wraps her free arm around her waist and shyly grins down at the ground.

“Okay, okay.” She inhales sharply and closes her eyes before she continues, “oh my god, Alex, she’s even more beautiful in real life than on TV! Her eyes are amazing, and her hands, and her arms... She was wearing this really tight turtleneck during dinner and we sat next to each other and I swear our hands almost touched...”

“Ew, Kara,” Alex interrupts her with a laugh, “you’re talking about your fake mother-in law.”

“Shut up, Alex. I’m serious.” She looks up at the clouds and the stars that lie beyond. “Cat is really great. She defended my job and said teaching was worthwhile. And her other son is a little cutie. A total nerd and a big fan of Clark. You’d like him. Cat seems very sweet with him. And with Adam, too.”

“Are you saying Adam actually has nothing to worry about?”

“Oh no, no. His grandmother is horrible. And I know his dad is a raging homophobe. I just… I don’t think Cat is the problem.”

There is another moment of silence and Kara presses a hand to her chest where her heart still flutters from talking about Cat.

“Kara.”

“What.”

“Don’t do it.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t do that thing.”

“What thing?” She knows exactly what Alex is referring to.

“The thing where you fall hopelessly in love with a straight woman you can’t have and I have to spend weeks feeding you cookie dough ice cream and pizza until I’m broke and you can face the world again.”

“Oh. _That_ thing.”

“Just…” She can hear the worry in her sister’s voice. “Be careful, okay? You get so attached to people, I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“It’s okay, Alex. I’m fine. This isn’t…” she trails off, Cat’s silence after Katherine’s outburst still fresh in her mind. “Look, I’m here to help Adam, and through him, Winn. Nothing else.”

“If you say so,” Alex murmurs, not sounding convinced at all.

“Adam actually had a panic attack right before dinner. I think I managed to calm him down, but then his grandma said this really horrible thing at the table and he just walked into the kitchen with a face like ash.”

“That’s awful. I’m sorry, Kara.”

“Yeah. He’s in our room on the phone with Winn now, so I hope that calms him down a little.”

She shuffles her shoe on the gravel and sighs.

“At least the food is really good. Adam told me it’s actually all catered.” Alex laughs at that, the sound of it making Kara briefly smile once more. “Although, I was so nervous I didn’t eat very much during dinner. It’s all a bit weird, this lying thing. Adam made up this story about how we met, and then he basically just exchanged Winn with me in all these anecdotes. You should have seen his face light up, it was kind of cute. It still made me feel… bad, though, you know?”

“Hmm,” Alex hums in understanding. “I know dishonesty isn’t easy for you, so be careful, alright?”

“Yeah, I will. As I said, Cat does not seem to be a problem, but I shouldn’t underestimate the power the grandmother has over the family. She’s really mean. Like… really super extra mean.”

Kara hears her foster mother yell for Alex in the background.

“Oh shit, I’m running late,” Alex groans. “Sorry, Kara. Gotta go. Mom’s waiting.”

“Go, go!” Kara tells her with a smile, picturing her sister stumbling around the hotel room. “Don’t worry. I’ll be okay. “

There are sounds of Alex rummaging around and then opening the door for her mother.

“Tell Eliza to knock ‘em dead. With science,” Kara calls out, unsure if Alex can still hear her.

“Haha, will do,” comes the muffled reply that means Alex probably has the phone pressed between her cheek and shoulder as she pulls on her boots. Eliza is berating her in the background, and Kara already misses them. It is, after all, the first Thanksgiving since she landed on Earth that she won’t be spending with the Danvers.

The sound of the cabin front door opening suddenly alerts Kara to where she is, and who she should pretend to be.

“Hey, I will speak to you soon, yeah?” She hurries to say as footsteps come closer. “Let me know how the speech went.”

“Will do. Love you, Kara.”

“Love you, too, Alex!”

When she hangs up and pushes away from the boathouse wall to turn around she sees Cat with her arms tightly wrapped around her middle against the cold and her eyes focusing on Kara in a hawkish glare. Kara has to fight the urge to squirm.

“Ms. Grant, hi!”

Cat only purses her lips, eyes squinting in clear scepticism, and Kara realises what the ending of her phone conversation must have sounded like.

“Uhm, I was just checking on my sister, _Alex_ ,” she emphasises as she waves her phone. “She and my foster mom are in Europe for a conference and I wanted to know that they landed safely.”

“Hmmm,” Cat acknowledges with a hesitant nod. Tiny raindrops have settled in her hair and a slight shiver gives away that she must be freezing.

“What are you doing out here without a jacket...?” Kara asks concerned, stepping closer. That is when she notices she herself isn’t wearing anything above her cardigan either, and her fingers fly up to adjust her glasses when she adds, feeling slightly dumb, “it’s, uhm, raining.”

Cat raises an eyebrow and her lips do something vaguely resembling a smirk before she turns on the spot and walks over to her car. She unlocks the door and then leans across the passenger seat to reach for something on top of the dashboard. Kara feels warmth suffuse her cheeks at how the boathouse lamp highlights Cat’s backside in those slacks. She quickly averts her gaze and bites the inside of her cheek when Cat emerges with a pair of glasses.

“Left them in the car,” Cat says as she shuts the door with a fluid shove of her hip. She locks up and tips her head in the direction of the cabin. “Are you going back?”

“Uh,” Kara blinks a few times, almost dropping her phone when she fidgets with it. “Yeah, sure. I… uhm,” she clears her throat and wipes her hand on her jeans again, “yeah, I was done.”

Cat gives her an undecipherable look, before turning to walk back to the cabin. Without meaning to Kara easily falls in step beside her. They are quiet as they make their way to the door and Kara feels overwhelmed walking so close to someone she has admired from a distance for so long. Her heightened senses make her aware of Cat’s body heat, of the scent of her skin through layers of fading make-up and perfume and expensive clothing, all of it mixing with the moss and earth and rain of the woods around them. She still cannot quite believe this is real.

When they step back inside Cat immediately hurries over to the fireplace and turns her back to the flames, eyes closing as she sighs in barely subdued relief. Kara lingers by the stairs, reluctant to tear her gaze from Cat visibly enjoying the warmth of the fire. The sight fills her with a numb sort of longing, her skin tickling from an emerging surge of tenderness that she knows she cannot allow herself to feel.

Cat’s eyes flutter open to stare directly at her and Kara swallows against the lump in her throat. She has to look away and is extremely glad that at least Cat’s mother is nowhere to be found.

“Where is… uhm...?” Kara begins, fingers flying up to self-consciously scratch her cheek.

“My mother, the prune?” Cat finishes for her, and if Kara did not know any better she could swear there was a tiny snort at the end of that sentence. “She went to bed,” Cat explains with a vague wave of her hand.

“Oh.”

For a short moment Kara worries that her relief is too obvious, but Cat only lets out a long breath and reaches for the glass of whiskey on the mantelpiece. She steps around the coffee table and slides onto the couch where she slips on her reading glasses and pulls out her phone. Kara stares at the back of her head, watches her shoulders drop a little as Cat sinks further into the couch, and she cannot help but think that Cat looks... _lonely_.

“Uhm, Ms. Grant?”

“Oh please,” Cat says without turning around. “You’re sleeping with my son. You can call me ‘Cat’.”

Kara stands frozen in place, feeling slightly nauseated. “R-right,” she mutters, eyes wide. “That is a thing that is happening.”

She shakes herself, knowing she needs to continue pretending for Adam’s sake.

“Uhm, I was just wondering whether you’re busy with work or something, or if I should ask Adam to come back down? You know,” she wrings her hands, “so you can hang out?”

At this Cat turns her head to the side and she speaks over her shoulder, her voice sounding oddly shy, “if he wants to.”

“Okay, I’ll go ask him,” Kara nods.

If there is ever a chance for Adam to one day come out to his mother, regardless of what the rest of his family thinks, spending more time together would be a start. The thought that she might actually be helping, not only Adam, but also Cat, puts an extra spring in Kara’s step. Being useful always makes her feel more at home on this planet.

She softens her footfall when she passes Katherine’s room, aware that providing Cat with some alone time with her son requires the dragon to remain in her lair. Kara does not enjoy demonising people and she always looks for the good in everyone she meets, but Katherine Grant makes it very difficult. There probably is a story of old pain somewhere behind all that bitterness, but right now Kara is too invested in the wellbeing of her best friend and his boyfriend to really think about Katherine twice.

After sneaking across the landing Kara softly knocks on the door to the room she shares with Adam and then quietly slips inside. He is on the floor by the window, next to the double bed, knees pulled up and head bowed, lost in quiet words on the phone. Kara closes the door and then sits down on the bed as he looks up with a weak smile.

“Kara’s here,” he tells Winn and Kara waves.

“Say hi to Winn for me.”

Adam does and Kara can hear Winn return the greeting on the other end.

“He wants to come over and kick my grandma’s ass,” Adam says with a smirk and Kara laughs, imagining Winn taking on Cat’s mother.

“I’m not so sure he can win,” she snorts and Adam’s smile grows.

“It’s the thought that counts, right?”

“Yes,” she agrees, one of her hands patting his shoulder. “Yes it is.”

There is a grumble coming from the other end of the line and they both laugh again, endeared.

“Hey, listen,” Kara starts then, slightly worried she might be overstepping by telling Adam what to do. “Your mom is downstairs all by herself, and I thought, you know, you two could hang out?”

Adam is quiet for a moment, chewing on his lip as he thinks.

“Okay,” he says after a while, “but only if you join us.”

“Me?” Kara grimaces, nervous fingers pushing at her glasses.

“Yeah, you are supposed to be my girlfriend, right? It would make sense for you to come spend time with me and my mom.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude...”

Kara remembers the way Cat’s face lit up when they arrived at the cabin earlier that evening. For a moment it almost looked as if Cat was going to scoop her oldest son into her arms, right until Kara got out of the car and put an awkward sort of dampener on their interaction.

“Here,” Adam stands and hands Kara the phone, before briefly bending down and adding for his boyfriend, “Winn, tell her she needs to come with me.”

He walks over to his bag then and pulls out a sweater to pull over his shirt, and Kara sighs and puts the phone against her ear.

“Go with him Kara,” Winn tries to convince her. “From what Adam told me about dinner I think Cat might actually not hate you.”

She smirks, defences dwindling. “Ah, right. I forgot that you’re the Cat expert.”

“That I am,” Winn says, a little proud.

Winn has been working as Cat’s personal IT consultant for over three years now, and although Cat with her busy CEO life does not appear to see him, or any of her employees, really, he has started to see her. After all, it was Winn who met a disappointed Adam at Noonan’s after the disastrous dinner with his mother and convinced him to give Cat another chance. And although Winn always speaks highly of Cat, the fact that he is now secretly dating her son fills him with utmost terror, something Kara can currently very much empathise with.

“Okay, okay. I’ll go.”

Happy, Adam takes the phone from her and says goodbye to Winn, before extending a hand and helping Kara off the bed.

They find Cat still sitting on the couch, deeply engrossed in typing on her phone. As soon as she hears them approach, though, she turns around and smiles warmly at her son, her face hopeful. Adam takes a seat next to her on the couch and Kara uses the pen and notebook she brought as an excuse to settle in one of the armchairs by the fire.

“I still have some work to do,” she explains.

Cat’s eyes move over to her and there is something in her gaze, something that could almost be gratitude. It takes a lot of willpower for Kara to not press her palm against her chest, because her heart suddenly flutters like the wings of a hummingbird.

“So,” Adam says then, rubbing his knees and looking around the room. “Grandpa’s cabin.”

Cat slips off her glasses and looks up at the walls and ceiling, her expression wistful as she taps the temple tip of the glasses against her lips. “I haven’t been here in four decades.”

“Has it changed?”

“Honestly?” Cat gazes at her son, and there is something vulnerable in her eyes that makes Kara’s chest hurt. “I have no idea. I don’t remember much.”

“The feeling is the same, though,” she continues as she looks around once more, her fingers tightening around her whiskey glass. “A bit overwhelming, actually. This place still gives me the feeling that I don’t know my father at all.”

Adam does not reply for a while and Kara tries to focus her attention on the notes in her lap. She sees nothing, though, the class preparation for her third grade art students blurring before her as she finds herself listening to Cat’s quiet breathing instead.

“Grandpa was a doctor, though, right?” Adam asks then.

“Yes, a heart surgeon,” Cat confirms. “According to my mother he was one of the best.” She takes a long sip from her whiskey and then leans forward to set the glass on the coffee table. “She was always very proud of him, always telling me about the famous people whose lives he saved.”

“Is that why you don’t want me to tell her I dropped out of med school?” Adam asks and Kara can’t help but look up from where she was pointlessly underlining random words in her notebook.

Cat lifts her hand, and for a brief moment she hesitates, fingers idling mere inches from Adam’s leg, before she takes a deep breath and places her palm on his knee.

“I’m sorry about that. Of course you can tell her, if you want to. I didn’t mean to…,” she sighs, her eyes drawn to the fire. “I don’t want you to have to lie about your life, Adam.”

The words lie heavy in the space between them and, startled, Kara meets Adam’s worried gaze.

Lying about her life is all Kara knows these days. From the moment she landed on Earth and was taken in by the Danvers she had to hide part of who she is in order to fit in. It would not have been that shocking to come out as an alien, who, thanks to Earth’s golden sun possesses amazing superpowers. After all, her cousin is a well-known and well-loved superhero in Metropolis. But Kara was a teenager then, a young girl who had just lost her family, _her entire planet_ , and was overwhelmed by what her body could suddenly experience and do. She was vulnerable and frightened, and learning to hide that part of herself was necessary in order to try and live a normal life.

Even Kal-El spends most of his time as his human alter ego. He once explained to Kara that having a regular life makes him feel like he belongs and helps to remind him that despite his powers he is just another Earthling, someone who does not stand above anyone else. Kara feels at peace with her decision to stay hidden. Earth does not need two superheroes and she is able to help others in her own way, through teaching and listening, and through her art.

It is quite ironic that being gay is one of the few things about herself Kara does not usually have to hide, and it makes her feel sad that someone as sweet as Adam was fated to grow up with an extremely homophobic father.

“Nah, it’s okay,” Adam says after a while. He pats Cat’s hand and smiles. “Grandma doesn’t need to know everything.”

Cat smirks at that. “No, she doesn’t.” She withdraws her hand to pull Adam into a sideways hug and he happily leans his head against her shoulder.

It is then that Kara’s super hearing picks up a door opening upstairs, but instead of the ominous clacking of heels she hears hesitant, socked steps moving down the stairs.

Carter stops at the halfway point and pokes his head over the banister to look down into the living room. When he sees Cat and Adam so close together his face falls a little and he begins to turn around and sneak back upstairs.

“Hey, Carter,” Kara calls out before she can stop herself, effectively freezing him in place, and Cat immediately turns around.

“Carter?” She calls for her youngest, and Kara could really get used to this private version of Cat, this warm, smiling woman so full of affection for her sons. “Come here, sweetheart.”

He seems a bit reluctant at first, but when Adam turns around as well and waves, Carter hurries down the final steps and comically slides across the hardwood floor on his socks, before squeezing himself into the small space on his mom’s other side. Cat briefly hugs him close and then wiggles a bit to get comfortable in between her two boys, causing all three of them to laugh.

This time Kara’s hand does fly to her chest, an instinctual reaction to the wild fluttering of her heart at the wholesome image before her. There is no doubt in her mind that Cat loves her sons, and it stands in sharp contrast to Cat’s reputation as the ruthless “Queen of All Media” who eats her competitors for breakfast and makes grown men cry.

Kara feels a bit like an intruder, and she cannot fight the feeling that she is not really needed here. When she contemplates calling it a night and leaving the Grant family to bond, however, Cat looks at her and smiles. A full, cheek-dimpling smile that is so overwhelmingly beautiful that Kara has to hold on to the armchair or she might actually start to float. She grins back, but then has to duck her head, because she can feel herself blushing furiously, which is definitely not something one should do in response to one’s boyfriend’s mother.

Luckily Carter provides a distraction. “Mom, I think I’m hungry.” He frowns and carefully pats his belly.

“Me, too,” Adam joins in, and Kara sees her chance.

“I can go and get us some of the leftovers.” She stands, dropping her pen and notepad onto the seat.

Carter slides off the couch and to her side. “I’ll help.”

Cat just shakes her head and laughs. “How can you people already eat again? We just had dinner.”

“Did you not hear grandma?” Carter says, his face suddenly serious. “You clearly don’t feed me enough.”

Adam’s eyes widen and Cat looks surprised for a moment, but then Carter laughs and Cat growls and throws a couch cushion at him. “I’m still not used to you making jokes, Carter.”

“Sorry,” he giggles and throws the cushion back, before hurrying away and through the swinging kitchen door.

“Any specific wishes?” Kara asks Adam, who is looking at his mom with a fond expression.

He suddenly pulls a grimace. “Anything but coleslaw.”

When Kara arrives in the kitchen Carter is already chewing on a sweet potato fry.

“Would you like me to heat that up for you?” She asks, because cold fries are gross.

Carter shoves another fry into his mouth and shrugs, talking around the blob of chewed food, “there isn’t a microwave.”

“Oh, right.” Kara really needs to remember that normal people on Earth use microwaves, not heat vision.

She looks at all the dishes she and Adam left on the counter earlier, unsure about where to put them. The fries are almost gone, just like the garlic bread and the coleslaw. Carter fishes some broccoli from one of the bowls and starts to chew on that, but Kara does not trust green food, because it barely has calories, and when you need about ten thousand of those a day, green food is a waste of time. She is glad when she finds some bread on a shelf in the corner.

She opens the bag and pulls out two slices, eyes roaming over the options she has left.

“Hey, Carter, would you like a meatloaf sandwich?”

“I don’t eat animals,” he answers, his face serious again as he chews on another piece of broccoli and Kara thinks he’s joking. When no laugh comes she frowns and Carter sighs.

“I’m a vegetarian. Look.” He unzips his hoodie to show off a peta2 t-shirt.

“Oh,” Kara smiles nervously. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” he says around another mouthful of broccoli. “Go ahead, you can still eat it. It’s already dead anyway.”

“Uhm... thanks.”

Kara pushes down the uncomfortable feeling of guilt as Carter watches her make two meatloaf sandwiches and place them on the plates she cleaned away earlier.

“Can I finish the fries?” He asks her then, his fingers already reaching for the last two fries in the bowl.

They are gone before Kara can say, “of course,”  and she worries a bit that he’s so hungry. After all he is a teenage boy and he has eaten nothing but vegetables for dinner. The concerned teacher in her emerges and she has to ask, “what do you normally eat at home when you get hungry?”

“Oh, anything, really,” he says with a dreamy look. “Pizza, lasagna, Tofurkey sandwiches. My mom makes the best vegetable sushi. Oh, and I really love peanut butter and jelly toasties.”

Kara feels relieved. “That sounds amazing! Those are some of my favourite foods, too.”

She does not mention that she has no clue what a ‘Tofurkey’ is, and instead does a quick scan of the cabinets with her x-ray vision. As luck--or a really competent catering company--will have it, she finds what she is looking for.

“Hey, how about I make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” She says with a grin while reaching up and opening the cupboard door in question.

Carter eyes widen and he nods eagerly.

“Oh, hold on.” He takes both jars from her and carefully reads the labels, giving a nod that they’re safe for him to eat, before moving on to the bag of sandwich bread.

“Even the bread?” Kara asks, baffled.

“I’m allergic to casein, so I can’t have milk. But this bread is okay,” he smiles.

Kara has to bite back the ‘oh you poor, sweet boy’ that threatens to spill from her lips, and she channels it by spreading an extra thick layer of peanut butter on one half of the sandwich, and another extra thick layer of strawberry jam on the other.

“Here you go,” she says, carefully placing the PB&J on a clean plate and sliding it across the counter.

“You’re awesome, Kara. Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome!” She grabs the two other plates and nods toward the door. “Come on, let’s go feed your brother.”

He hurries ahead and pushes through the door right when Cat sets down her now empty whiskey glass. Carter’s steps falter slightly and Cat looks guilty, something that Kara files away for later.

“I hope a meatloaf sandwich is okay,” she says as she hands Adam his plate.

He smiles. “Perfect, thank you.”

As they eat together Cat comments on the masses of peanut butter and jelly that are dripping onto Carter’s plate, but Carter looks happy, and the glare Cat sends Kara’s way is accompanied by a tight-lipped smirk that makes Kara grin into her food.

Their banter is comfortable and Carter makes another joke that causes Adam to fist bump and Cat to hug him tightly. Adam asks about Carter’s school, and there is pride shining from Cat’s eyes when she listens to Carter speak about the first place he got at his school’s science fair. Carter then wants to know everything about med school, particularly CT scans, which leads to a small discussion on whether Superman’s live X-Ray vision would count as such.  

As Kara watches them she thinks that the three Grants are not so different from her, Alex and Eliza. They’re just another small family that might have its problems, but the adoration they have for each other will probably get them through anything. She sure hopes so.

At around eleven Carter yawns for the third time and Cat combs her fingers through his hair and tells him that it is time to go to bed. He makes a face, but gets up without further complaint, giving a little wave before quietly drudging up the stairs. Before Cat follows she turns around and looks back at Kara and Adam, her voice gentle as she says, “goodnight, you two.”

The way she says it makes Kara feel like she belongs, like she is welcome here within this small but happy little family, and for just a moment she forgets that this is all pretend.

“Goodnight, Cat,” she replies, wide grin firmly in place.

“‘Night mom,” Adam adds with a smile of his own, and Cat disappears upstairs.

They sit in companionable silence then, listening to the soft rain outside and the last few ambers sizzling in the fireplace. Kara thinks about the evening, about the harsh start of it and how nicely it turned out once Katherine was out of the picture.

She went into this not entirely sure what to expect, especially from Cat, of whom she only knew from her talk show and from Winn’s sporadic gushing. But Cat surprised her, showed her a side of herself that Kara could have never guessed, and the reality that she will likely not see Cat again after this weekend suddenly settles over her, sharp and heavy.

“Can I ask you something, Adam?” She breaks the silence to distract herself.

“Sure.”

“I… I understand about your grandma, and about you dad, of course,” Kara quickly adds. “But why Cat? Why your mom?”

Adam chews on the inside of his cheek as he contemplates an answer. Kara does not want to push him, but this is the one part of this charade she does not fully understand.

“When I,” Adam begins, his hands rubbing together as he takes a deep breath for courage. “When I contacted my mom I was terrified she would not answer my email. I didn’t really know who she was and my dad barely ever mentioned her.” He looks up and Kara’s heart aches for the sadness in his eyes. ”When he did mention her it was nothing kind.”

“I’m really sorry,” is all Kara can whisper.

“I told you about how my dad gets, how he hates gays and how not a day went by where he didn't let me know that if I were one of ‘them’,” he makes air quotations, “I would stop being his son.”

Kara stands from the armchair and sits down by his side, one of her hands reaching over to warmly cover his fidgeting fingers.

“Meeting my mom that first night... I had such high hopes. I had this image in my head about how perfect she would be, how she would hug me and tell me she always loved me and that she was sorry she ever let me go. But she was distant, and dinner felt like a business meeting,” he gives a little snort, “almost like a job interview.”

“I know now that she was just nervous, probably more than I was, but if it weren’t for Winn, I would not be here now. When we bumped into each other at that coffee place he convinced me to give mom another chance, and to be honest, that was one of the bravest things I have ever done.”

“I’m still terrified, Kara, of losing her again. I haven’t spoken to my dad in months, and if I lose mom, that’s it.”

“Come here,” Kara says as she pulls him into a hug. He does not cry, but there is a heaviness to his limbs as he clings to her. “For what it’s worth, I’m here for you. You’re my best friend’s boyfriend you will always have a safe space with me.”

“Thank you, Kara,” his voice is small as he squeezes her tightly. “That means a lot.”

When they pull apart Kara adds, “and I may not know your mom very well, but I get the feeling that she’d be okay with it.”

Adam gives a tiny nod. “Maybe I should just get it over with. You know, face my fears. I just…," he swallows. "She gave me up once, you know? I can’t help but worry that she’ll do it again if it turns out I’m not the perfect son.”

“Hey, do it at your own pace, okay? If it’s not this weekend, then it’s not this weekend. This is your decision, Adam. I’m just here for the free food.”

He smiles at that and gently bumps a fist into her shoulder. “You’re pretty great, Kara Danvers. I can see why Winn likes you so much.”

“Right back atcha, eldest son of Cat Grant.”

Kara knows that whatever the next few days will bring, she has found a new friend in Adam.


	3. Chapter 3

Cat wakes feeling cold and stiff, her back aching as she slowly stretches under the sheets. There is a sliver of light peeking past the edge of the curtains and she reaches for her phone to check the time. It is not even eight. Knowing that she will not be able to fall asleep again, she just listens to the steady thrumming of rain and Carter’s soft snoring, a tiny smile appearing on her lips despite the gloomy weather.

Although she has lived in large, busy cities all her life, Cat enjoys quiet mornings. It is the main reason she and Carter live on the top two floors of one of National City’s tallest apartment buildings. At such heights even the noise of rush hour traffic fades into a soft, distant humming. Cat loves the peacefulness of it, loves the way her heart always calms down after a restless night. Rain might be a rare occurrence in Southern California, there is nevertheless something about the steady rhythm that Cat finds she enjoys, too.

What she does not enjoy is being cold.

The tip of her nose feels frozen and her skin hurts when she rubs across her cheeks. Knowing that the faster she gets up, the faster she can sit by the fire with a cup of coffee, Cat moves out of bed and checks on Carter who has rolled himself into a warm little burrito, his pillow pressed against his cheek. Her fingers itch with the urge to brush the curls from his face, but she does not want to wake him, and so she just grabs her clothes and sneaks out into the hallway.

The cabin is quiet and she is relieved to find the shared bathroom unoccupied, which gives her a chance to take a quick shower before everyone else wakes up. The water does not turn hot enough to really warm her up, though, and after just a few minutes Cat turns it off and steps in front of the fogged up mirror, shivering into her towel. Her skin is still clammy when she slips on her slacks and shirt, making her clothes stick uncomfortably to her skin. She finishes by pulling a one-shoulder sweater over her head and then frowns at the state of her hair in the small patch she wiped clear on the mirror.

There is no use trying to fix it without a blow-dryer that will make enough noise to wake the rest of the cabin, so she just loosely combs it with her fingers and then ties it into a tiny ponytail that will have to do for now.

After quietly dropping off her pyjamas and tidying her bed, Cat makes her way downstairs and heads straight for the fireplace. She cleans away some of the ash and then sets up the wood. Within a few minutes she has a fire going and she sighs when the heat finally spreads to her bones. For a while she just watches the flames, palms extended to soak up more warmth.

She feels a strange sort of unease as she stands there listening to the crackling fire, the soft rain, and the water dripping down from the veranda roof outside the windows. Something unsettles her, but she does not understand what it could be. The previous evening with her sons has been wonderful and she should be happy. She _is_ happy. And yet there is something nagging in the back of her mind, something familiar and a little bit frightening. Her thoughts move from her boys to Kara, and the feeling of unease grows.

Is it wise to let her guard down so much around someone who is essentially still a stranger? Cat knows nothing about Adam’s girlfriend other than that she is apparently a teacher, that she probably put a charm spell on her sons, and that she is very pretty.

“Uh.” Cat rubs a hand across her face and takes a deep breath.

She really wishes she could hate the girl, because that would make everything so much easier. Instead, Cat finds herself lulled into a sense of comfort and familiarity that should worry her, should _warn_ her. People like Kara do not exist. There are always ulterior motives and extortion schemes, as well as competitors out for a scoop on the Queen of All Media, and as much as Cat hates to think it, she would not put it past them to use her son to get to her.

The idea, though, that Kara with her wide smiles and kind eyes harbours anything but genuine intentions feels ludicrous, and Cat does not want to believe it. Still, something feels off, and her journalistic hunches have never let Cat down before. She releases a long sigh and decides to tread carefully from now on and pay close attention to Kara’s behaviour. And maybe she is wrong. Maybe Adam and Kara are simply two adorable nerds in love who are just a little nervous around Cat, because they are afraid of her disapproval.

A door opens upstairs then and Cat holds her breath until she can hear from the clacking of heels that it is her mother. Closing her eyes she braces herself, fingers digging into her palms. As she slowly turns around and blinks open her eyes again her gaze is drawn to movement outside the window where she sees Kara jogging towards the backdoor with what looks like a brown paper bag tucked tightly beneath her arm. Before Cat has the chance to wonder about what Kara is doing up so early, and what she might be hiding, Katherine arrives downstairs and makes her presence known by clearing her throat.

“Good morning, mother,” Cat greets her, forcing a smile.

“Oh for god’s sake, Kitty, hide your ears,” Katherine says, her voice ice cold. “You’re not twelve.”

Cat feels her heart hammering against her ribs and she is left speechless when Katherine steps around her and takes a seat in the armchair by the fire with a nonchalance that belies the heavy punch she just dished out. Cat’s fingers fly up and pull out her ponytail. She pushes her hair in front of her ears, her lips parted in shock. It takes all her mental strength to remind herself who she is and that her mother’s cruel teasing should not get to her. But it does, and once more she feels years of painful therapy collapsing around her.

“Oh, it’s you,” Katherine says then, her tone only marginally less annoyed now that she is addressing someone else. Cat turns to see Kara standing in the open kitchen door, her eyes wide and fully focused on Cat. “You do know how to work a coffee maker, hmm?”

“Uhm,” Kara blinks at Katherine. “Sure?”

She is completely drenched, hair sticking to her cheeks and forehead, and the clothes that are pressing against the contours of her body hint at unexpected, well-toned muscles. The view distracts Cat enough to allow her hands to drop away from her ears and down to her sides.

“I take mine black with a spoonful of sugar,” Katherine says pointedly, and Kara nods her head in understanding before stepping back into the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind her.

Cat’s heart is still racing and she can feel a vein rapidly pulse in her neck. She hates that her mother still has such power over her and that she can reduce her to an insecure child in one sentence. She hates especially that it happened in front of a witness, one Cat is still not quite sure she can trust.

When she enters the kitchen Kara is already pouring water into the coffeemaker.

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Cat says, her voice quiet as she leans her hip against the kitchen counter.

Kara looks up and her smile is warm. “Oh, I don’t mind.”

Cat scoffs at that, rolling her eyes, ready to relieve some of the anger she has for herself through being mean to Kara. Before she can think of something satisfyingly nasty to say, though, Kara continues, her voice hushed. “Besides,” she leans closer, the scent of wind and rain wafting off her and causing Cat’s eyelashes to flutter, “maybe caffeine will help tame the prune monster.”

In spite of herself Cat smirks, her anger dissipating. She is not used to people other than Carter taking her side, and although it could all be a tactic to get closer to her, Cat basks a little in the feeling of support.

“So, what happened to you?” She asks then, remembering that she saw Kara earlier. “Decide the weather looked perfect for a little walk?”

“I went for a run,” Kara explains while she measures the coffee. “It’s something I do almost every day, regardless of the weather.” She closes the lid on the coffeemaker and switches on the machine. “I couldn’t pass up the beautiful nature out there, you know?” She smiles and gestures at the window.

Cat raises an eyebrow, but says nothing else. Just like the previous evening she feels herself comforted by Kara’s presence, feels an ease in their interaction that she is not used to. It adds to the growing turmoil in her belly and leaves her unsure of how to act.

“I’m gonna go take a quick shower,” Kara says then, wiping at the still dripping hair on her face. “After that I’ll wake Adam and then maybe we can all have breakfast? I checked, the fridge is fully stocked.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cat murmurs, suddenly distracted by a drop of water that pearls down the length of Kara’s throat.

“Okay. See you in a bit!” With another wide grin Kara pushes past her and Cat stares hard at the coffeemaker, willing it to brew faster, because she really needs the caffeine to kick some sense into her.

She bites her lip and watches the coffee dripping into the pot, her vision unfocused. It feels like she is teetering on the edge of admitting something she is not ready to face with her mother just a few feet away and on a prowl for blood. Something inconvenient--and probably self-sabotaging, as her therapist would say--that needs to remain in that dark corner Cat reserves for out-of-state conferences and exclusive after parties.

 _She’s not even your type,_ her hands seem to whisper when she buries her face in them and takes several deep, steadying breaths.

When the coffee is done Cat reluctantly pours a cup for her mother, before filling an extra large mug for herself. She is normally a latte person, but today she is in desperate need of an unsweetened wake-up call.

Katherine is scribbling in a manuscript when Cat returns to the living room.

“Be careful where you tread, Kitty!” She says without looking up. “That saccharine creature left puddles everywhere.”

The warning comes too late, though, and annoyed, Cat looks down at where her sock has landed in a tiny water footprint on the floor.

“Your coffee, mother.” She places the cup on the table and takes a seat on the sofa, her toes flexing against the wet patch in her sock.

“Thank you, my daughter,” Katherine murmurs as she pulls up the sleeves of her woolen dress, her bangles sliding down to her wrists in a soft clatter. She reaches for her coffee and begins to stir, and the way her spoon continuously slides against the cup, metal against stone, reminds Cat of the sound of someone sharpening a knife.

“So, mother,” she begins, hoping that if she initiates a casual conversation things will remain bearable. “How is life in Metropolis? Edited any bestsellers lately?”

“Oh, of course, Kitty,” Katherine smirks as she sets down the spoon and picks up her coffee. “Although no authors that might interest you. I haven’t touched a romance manuscript in decades.”

Cat forces a smile and stares off into the fire. She does not even read romance novels, at least not the kind her mother is talking about. But as usual she keeps quiet, aware that speaking up will only invite more vitriol, and that is something she wants to keep to a minimum, especially for Carter’s sake.

“Thank you, for notifying the caterer of Carter’s food allergy.” She takes a long sip from her coffee and fights the urge to grimace at the bitterness of its taste and the discomfort of thanking her mother. “The cook my useless assistant hired for Carter’s birthday party almost poisoned him with lactose-free milk.”

Katherine sets down her coffee and returns to her manuscript, not looking up when she says, “I’m sure if he ate properly he would toughen up. I still can’t believe you don’t feed him meat, Kitty.” At this she glances at Cat over the rim of her glasses, her pen flicking back and forth between her fingers. “How is he supposed to grow into a man?”

“Carter is perfectly healthy, mother,” Cat hisses, fingers digging into her coffee mug. “I told you that it was his choice to become a vegetarian and that I fully support him.”

Her heart is racing again, and she remembers that she has some Lexapro in her bag upstairs that she really hoped she would not have to use this weekend. But there is nothing that riles her up like her mother insinuating that she is a bad parent. Cat knows she is a great mom, knows that she is raising a wonderful, smart and very kind little person. And yet, as soon as her mother opens her mouth, doubt creeps in.

Carter is a sensitive boy. When he was eight he found out where meat really comes from and he cried and cried until Cat promised him he would never have to eat it again. He cares so much about animals and about the planet, that by the age of ten he won his school’s science fair with a project that visualised the amount of water one could save by just swapping out a single beef burger per week. It is thanks to him and his interest in environmentalism that CatCo magazine had its first green issue this year. And although Cat does not always understand Carter, she is incredibly proud of him.

Katherine looks like she wants to respond to Cat’s outburst, but there is laughter coming from upstairs that makes her roll her eyes and return to scribbling in her manuscript.

Cat turns around to see a smiling Carter come down the stairs, followed by a fully dressed Kara. For a short moment Cat is confused by how much time must have passed that Kara had a chance to shower and get ready, but when Carter slides across the floor in his Superman pyjamas and snuggles up next to her on the sofa, all that Cat cares about is that she is no longer alone with her mother.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Cat murmurs against his temple, before leaning back to smooth down a few unruly curls. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” he says a little shyly with a side glance at his grandmother. “The rain is really nice.”

Kara stops next to them and grins.  “Any special wishes for breakfast?”

“Oh, I’ll come help!” Carter bounces off the sofa enthusiastically, but Kara holds up a hand.

“Thanks, buddy, but I got everything under control. You stay with your mom, okay?” She sends a look in Katherine’s direction and Cat wants to hug her.

Carter seems to understand too, and he nods and pulls his socked feet back under himself as he settles once more at Cat’s side.

“Okay, then… uhm… just oatmeal with banana and cinnamon, please.”

Kara smiles at that and points a finger at him. “I like the way you think! What about you, Cat?”

Hearing her name fall from Kara’s lips sends a jolt through Cat, and she feels that restless feeling return to her belly. “I don’t do breakfast,” she manages to answer, but the determined and definitely not adorable frown on Kara’s face is already changing her mind.

“Oh, you need to eat something! I saw fruit in the fridge, I could cut some for you.”

“Fine.”

From the corner of her eye Cat sees her mother’s head shoot up in surprise at how quickly she relented.

“Any breakfast for you, Mrs. Grant?” Kara then asks Katherine politely, and Cat glances over to see her mother’s lips wrinkle in distaste, her glare causing Kara to visibly shrink and fiddle with her glasses. “Right. Okay. No breakfast.”

With a slight slouch to her shoulders Kara makes her way towards the kitchen, but when she steps through the doorway she turns around and sends Cat another quick grin, before the door swings shut behind her.

Cat wants to bury her face in her hands to quiet the fluttering in her chest, but she can feel her mother’s eyes on her and so instead she opts to take another sip of bitter, unpleasant coffee to remind herself that Kara is Adam’s girlfriend.

“Can we play a game today?” Carter asks her quietly and Cat is grateful that he stayed with her instead of helping with breakfast.

“Of course, sweetheart. I’m sure your brother would enjoy that.”

Carter pulls up his eyebrows and leans closer when he adds, “and Kara?”

“And Kara, too.”

The flutter remains in Cat’s chest throughout the ten or so minutes of relatively peaceful silence that follow. Katherine is working, Carter is staring off into space, listening to the crackling fire and the rain, his fingers playing with the sleeve of Cat’s sweater. And Cat slowly finishes her coffee, trying very hard to think of anything but the young woman currently preparing breakfast.

By the time Kara emerges from the kitchen with plates and cutlery Adam slinks down the stairs and sleepily greets everyone with a wave of his hand.

“Here, let me get that,” he says when he sees Kara, and Cat is glad that he has manners after all.

The instance he reaches for the plates Kara turns to hand him the cutlery and they have a little moment where their hands brush, which should be cute, but actually just looks awkward. The nervous giggling that follows is not that reassuring either, and Cat chews on her bottom lip as she watches them over Carter’s shoulder.

 _Two nerds in love,_ she reminds herself.

She continues to observe their interactions as they set the table, and her suspicions only grow. Adam and Kara do not touch, do not whisper or share warm, secret looks. They do not move like a couple, which is something Cat already noticed last night, but originally put down to nerves. Now she is unsure. Something is off, and she does not like it.

“Okay, breakfast is served,” Kara calls out cheerfully, but when her eyes meet Cat, whose doubt must show on her face, her smile falters.

Cat feels like she kicked a puppy, and so she forces a smirk, the conflicting chaos in her belly telling her food is probably a bad idea.

“Oh wow, mom!” Carter says when he sinks into his chair, and Cat frowns and follows his gaze to her seat at the table. She walks around to see a plate of different kinds of fruit. In the middle sits a beautiful rose carved from what looks like honeydew melon, with at its centre... the tiny face of a cheshire cat.

“What?” Cat does not know what to do with herself. She hates cat jokes, hates being compared to felines, but she is also stunned by the intricacy of the carving and the effort this clearly took.

“Kara, that’s really good,” Adam comments, leaning over to get a better look, but Kara just gives a squinty grin and waves him off.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” She does not look at Cat. “You know that I worked at Noonan’s all through college and university. It’s what I did there. Sandwich towers, cappuccino art, superhero emblems on oatmeal…,” she trails off and wriggles her fingers in Carter’s direction, who finally looks down at the bowl in front of him, his eyes widening in delight.

“Superman!” He excitedly tilts the bowl to show Cat the ‘S’ logo made from bananas. “What did you get, Adam?”

Cat sits down and watches her oldest son’s face curiously, noting the blush and shy grin that emerge on his face.

“It’s a… uhm… a Super Mario star made from bananas.” He gently pats Kara’s hand, and Cat does see genuine care between them.

Maybe she has it wrong? Maybe the fact that she is fighting an attraction to her son’s girlfriend is making her look for reasons to hate and reject her, when there are none? Kara really does seem to be disgustingly perfect.

“Is that your favourite video game?” Carter asks. “Super Mario Bros.?”

Adam shrugs and traces the outline of the smiling star shape on his oatmeal with a spoon. “Well, it’s my favourite game to play with… uhm Kara... and our friend _Winn_.” His eyes briefly flick to Cat when he says his friend’s name, and Cat wonders if that is someone she should know.

“Hey, but this is really cool.” He smiles at his girlfriend again, and there is a warmth there that Cat cannot believe is fake. “Thank you, Kara.”

“Yeah, thank you, Kara,” Carter chimes in, his mouth full of oatmeal. “And it tastes really good, too!”

“I wonder why I bothered with a caterer,” Katherine suddenly barks from her chair by the fire, “if we have a culinary princess in the house.”

“It’s just breakfast, mother,” Cat says before she can stop herself. “Which, if I remember correctly, you did not want to be part of.”

Her mother’s eyebrows rise almost to her hairline. “Well,” she huffs and tilts up her chin. “You all better still have room for Thanksgiving dinner, because it cost me thousands of dollars.”

Carter leans over to Cat and whispers, concern written on his face, “there’s not going to be turkey, right?”

“No, sweetheart. You grandma won’t eat a flightless bird,” Cat reassures him.

“Venison roast,” Katherine says haughtily before returning to her manuscript, and Carter visibly pales.

“It’s okay, Carter,” Cat squeezes his hand. “You don’t have to touch it, I promise.”

She glances at Kara, who appears lost in thought, but sports an angry little frown, and Adam, who just quietly spoons his oatmeal beside her.

Determined not to let the mood drop any further, Cat picks up her fork and sticks it right between the melon cat’s eyes. Carter notices and snorts indelicately, which makes the other two look up as well. With a smirk Cat then lifts her knife and carefully cuts the carved rose pedals away from the face until all that is left is a tiny ball with a cheshire grin which she then promptly raises to her lips.

She smiles around the fork and flicks her eyes to Kara, who immediately lowers her gaze, but seems to fight against a smile of her own.

_And the flutter is back._

As they eat their breakfast Carter and Adam continue to talk about video games, and Cat tunes out their conversation and simply enjoys sitting at the table with her two boys. She makes an effort to not look at Kara, but she is there, in the corner of her eye, devouring an impressive amount of oatmeal that makes Cat wonder about the lean body she thought she saw earlier.

When they are finished, everyone helps to carry the dishes into the kitchen and Cat leans against the door frame for a moment to watch her sons stand side by side to rinse the dishes in the sink. She thinks this might be the happiest day of her life.

“I’m gonna get dressed,” Carter announces then, and Cat quickly blinks away the beginnings of tears to smile at him.

“Bring down the game when you’re done,” she tells him as he slips past her and hurries upstairs.

“He’s such an awesome kid,” Kara says, and Cat looks at Adam, pride blooming in her chest.

“Both my sons are.”

Adam turns away at that, something thoughtful in his smile, but before Cat can ask him about it, his phone rings. It is some kind of annoying gaming melody, and Adam fumbles to quickly dry his hands and pull the phone from his pocket.

“I… I should take this.” He makes an apologetic face. “Sorry.”

He ducks out of the back door before Cat can blink, and, stunned, she watches him jog through the rain to the boathouse, where he huddles beneath the little roof and turns away from the cabin to answer the phone.

“Should I worry?” Cat murmurs.

“Nah,” Kara waves her off, but her smile is strained and she won’t look Cat in the eye. “I think it’s just someone from school.”

Cat wants to remind her that she knows her son dropped out of med school, but then she remembers she is still standing in the open door to the living room where her mother sits.

“Hmmm,” is all she says, but that uncomfortable feeling is back, and it is driving her crazy. Something is going on, and it might not be the diabolical sabotage scenario she initially considered, but Adam and Kara are keeping a secret, and Cat would not be the investigative journalist she is if she just let it slide.

“I’m going to check on him,” she says, determined, and Kara’s suddenly panicked face is all the confirmation she needs.

“Oh, but I’m sure he’s fine,” Kara stammers, attempting to step in Cat’s path, but quickly backing off as soon as Cat props a hand on her hip and glares.

She knows that Carter has returned downstairs, because she can hear him unpacking Settlers of Catan, and she hopes Kara understands that he should not be alone with his grandmother.

“Go help Carter set up the game. We’ll join you in a minute.” And with that she pushes past Kara and steps out into the rain.

The crunching gravel beneath her shoes alerts Adam, but she did not come out here to startle him, just to talk.

“Cat?” He squeaks when he sees her and then talks into the phone, “sorry, I gotta go. I’ll call you back.”

Cat hurries under the little roof and leans her back against the wall beside her son, arms crossing over her chest against the cold and the conversation she is about to have.

“What’s going on?” Adam asks, and his voice is small. She hates that he seems frightened, hates that she is going to push him. Maybe she should not do it.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” she says, staring straight ahead, aware of the tension in his shoulders from where their arms touch.

“What… what do you mean?”

Cat takes a deep breath and turns to look at him, her heart aching for the little boy she never got to see grow up into the wonderful man now standing before her.

“I know I wasn’t there for most of your life,” she begins, and she has to swallow against the sudden lump in her throat as painful memories come to the surface. “And I know we only just found each other again, and,” she sighs and looks at the ground, “essentially I’m still a stranger to you.”

“You’re not a stranger to me,” he interrupts her softly, and Cat looks back up to find warmth in his eyes.

Her voice is a mere whisper when she asks him. “Then why don’t you trust me?”

The fact that he instantly looks away tells Cat her journalistic hunch is right.

“Adam,” she wills him to look at her again. “What’s going on between you and Kara?”

He is quiet for a while, and Cat can see that his hands are trembling. Truly worried now, she reaches up to rub his shoulder until he takes a shaky breath and says, “we’re not together.”

When he says nothing else, Cat’s mind begins to race. Has he been coerced? Is he being blackmailed? Is Kara part of a dark scheme to dig up dirt on the Queen of All Media after all? She wrecks her brain for clues she might have missed, until she remembers spotting Kara in the morning, allegedly coming back from a run. There was the matter of the disappearing brown paper bag, and now that she thinks about it, Cat realises that someone who has gone for a run in the rainy forest should not be leaving clean water footprints, but big, muddy ones. Kara is clearly a liar.

She feels sick, the honeydew melon lying heavy in her stomach.

“Oh, Adam,” she puts a hand to his cheek, causing him to finally look at her. “Are you in trouble?”

“What?”

“Did you make some kind of deal?” She grabs his arm.

“What are you talking about?”

“Whatever it is, we’ll get you out of it, I promise.”

“No. Mom,” he tries, but Cat does not really hear him.

“This has happened before,” she pats his chest through his sweater.

“Mom!”

“... and I don’t blame you, Adam...”

He grabs her gently by the wrists, stilling her hands, and looks at her until it finally sinks in that he called her ‘mom’ for the first time. Cat takes a deep, steadying breath and decides to listen.

“Mom, I’m...” He looks terrified. “I-I’m gay.”

“What?”

“I’m gay.”

Cat stares at him, gaze moving back and forth between his eyes, the words echoing in her head and finally settling over her as truth. She feels tears spring to her eyes, and when Adam seems to misinterpret and starts to move away from her, his face falling, Cat immediately pulls him back and wraps her arms around him as tightly as she can manage. She presses her face against his neck and whispers against his skin, “I love you, and I’m so proud of you.”

And suddenly Adam is weeping. He shrinks into her embrace and trembles as he cries against her, his arms weakly hugging her shoulders. Cat holds on to him, rubs his back and gently sways him from side to side. She can feel the tension flow from him as his sobs grow quiet, and it breaks her heart to imagine what he must have been going through.

After a minute or so, Adam slowly pulls away, his hands warm on Cat’s shoulder, and he smiles the most brilliant smile Cat has ever seen on him.

“Thank you.” He wipes at his eyes then and laughs. “I was so scared.”

“Oh, Adam,” Cat reaches up to wipe the rest of his tears away and then presses her hand against his cheek. “I understand. I really, really do.”

She remembers her mother’s screaming, remembers the sound of the front door slamming behind her best friend whom she would never see again. She remembers the lecturing that made her feel small and filthy and worthless, remembers the nights she cried herself to sleep wishing her father was the kind of heart doctor who could make her love boys instead of girls.

“Know that I will always love you,” she whispers, her heart aching. “I always have. Nothing can change that. And being gay,” she takes a deep breath of cold air, aware that she has never said these words out loud outside of therapy, “is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not wrong, nor something that makes you unworthy of love.”

“You’re the best mom ever,” Adam says as he hugs her again, and Cat clings to him, uses him to remind herself that her words are true.

_Not something that makes you unworthy of love._

“Does your father know?” She asks then, hoping against her better judgment that some people are capable of change.

“Oh god, no,” Adam snorts, but then looks down and Cat can see the sadness in his eyes. “He said that if I were gay I would no longer be his son.”

“I’m so sorry, Adam.” She combs the tips of her fingers through his damp hair. “I understand why you brought a fake girlfriend.” The flutter in her heart that has not died down since this morning makes her add, “and she isn’t even particularly awful.”

He smiles at that. “I did good, right? She is pretty great.”

“Who is she?” Now that she knows Kara is not her son’s girlfriend after all, Cat finds it difficult to stifle her interest. “Where did you even find someone like that?”

“Well, she _is_ Winn’s best friend. That part is true.”

“And Winn is…?” Cat asks, smiling, pretty sure she knows the answer.

“... my boyfriend,” Adam finishes for her, and his grin is adorably shy.

“You do realise I want to meet him. And soon. Yes?” She pats his chest.

Adam looks away and presses his lips together, before mumbling, “well, you already sort of know him. I think.”

“You think?” Cat goes through all the gay men she knows in her mind, but she is not the best with names and the only Winn she knows is her IT hobbit and surely…

“Yeah, he works for you. Bit shorter than me,” Adam holds out his hand to indicate the height, “dark hair? Has an affinity for cardigans?”

“My computer droid!”

“Haha, yes, he said you call him that sometimes.” Adam’s eyes sparkle and now that Cat knows the truth, she realises that when Adam spoke of his relationship at dinner, he did not look ‘in love’ until he mentioned Winn. “We met, briefly, when I came to visit you in your office the first time.”

Cat smirks. “I figured someone must have let you in.”

“And please don’t fire him,” Adam scratches the back of his head and grimaces. “He would kill me if he knew I’m telling you this, but… that night, after I walked out on you, I ran into him at that coffee shop next to CatCo, and he told me to give you another chance.” He smiles at the memory. “I said I would, in exchange for a date.”

“Very sly,” Cat laughs. “And, I’m really glad you did,” she rubs his arm again, only to feel how cold he is to her touch. “You’re freezing, Adam, we should get back inside.”

“So are you, mom,” he looks at her concerned. “You’re shaking!”

He is right. Cat figures that the adrenaline has kept her warm until now, but suddenly she feels like she has been dipped in ice water. She turns toward the cabin, but before she makes a run for the door there is one last thing on her mind.

“To come back to Kara,” she frantically rubs her arms against the chill, thinking of the right words. “Do you know her well enough to trust her around your little brother?”

“Oh yes. She’s the sweetest person I know. I don’t think she could hurt a fly.” He blows warm air into his hands and shuffles his feet, clearly ready to hurry back inside. “Are you going to send her away?” He makes a face at the thought. “That would be kind of mean, because she’s sort of alone this weekend. Her family is in Europe.”

“Your grandmother still thinks she’s your girlfriend, remember? And so does your brother. No, no. Kara may stay.”

 _And who am I kidding,_ Cat thinks as she and Adam run through the rain back to the cabin. _There is no way in hell I could send her away._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have any of this beta read, and I am not a native English speaker. Please forgive any mistakes. I'm exhausted right now, but I wanted to post asap. Will probably read through it again tomorrow to try and catch anything I might have missed. :)


End file.
